Hello ive started using some online sites for studys the last days - file some stuff and get money/points etc BUT everytime i do a survey on "https://www.meinungsstudie.de/" it loads the sites on a url named "surveymyopinion" So if i run adwcleaner (current version) after doing that i get 4-8 PUP'S which all have entries verifying it is from "surveymyopinion" in some folders. Now the question: Harmless or not?  

Heres an example of what adwcleaner reports under registry (file which opens after a full scan.) "

***** [ Registry ] *****

PUP.Optional.Legacy, [Key] - HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\EdpDomStorage\endlinks.researchnow.com PUP.Optional.Legacy, [Key] - HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\EdpDomStorage\researchnow.com PUP.Optional.Legacy, [Key] - HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\EdpDomStorage\survey-d.researchnow.com PUP.Optional.Legacy, [Key] - HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\EdpDomStorage\surveymyopinion.researchnow.com PUP.Optional.Legacy, [Key] - HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\endlinks.researchnow.com PUP.Optional.Legacy, [Key] - HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\researchnow.com PUP.Optional.Legacy, [Key] - HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\survey-d.researchnow.com PUP.Optional.Legacy, [Key] - HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\Children\001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\surveymyopinion.researchnow.com "

 

Suggestions?

Re: PUP's from online studies - harmless or not?

Hello Fleks,

I see you have a PUP issue(s).  Did you delete the PUP's with Adware Cleaner after you ran the scan?  I don't know where you are located but did you know this study website is in Germany?

PUA. (Potentially Unwanted Application) or PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program)  These are very annoying at best in that they cause pop-us, redirect your browser home page, and other behavior that may slow down the computer and direct ads your way, but they are not actually doing anything bad like damaging files or stealing information. Often they are installed intentionally by you the user as browser add-ons for various tasks such as quick search tools.. but they also come with the result of added annoying pop-ups and ads. Other times they 'piggy back' with other software that you installed, or try to 'sneak' onto your system entirely.

Hope this helps?

Warmest Regards.

Julie

 

Re: PUP's from online studies - harmless or not?

I have removed them and i know everything about the site. I just wanted to know if they are rather serious or just ad related. I remove them at the end of my day when i turn of my pc anyhow so i just wanted to be save in case they do something rather fishy (track keystrokes for example.)

Re: PUP's from online studies - harmless or not?

They are not serious but they are annoying!  Just be careful what you download and make sure to pay attention to what is checked marked that shouldn't be.  PUA's do not track you, etc and are not ad related.

Hope this helps.

Julie

Re: PUP's from online studies - harmless or not?

i didnt download anything. they just appear everytime i do a survey on the site above

Re: PUP's from online studies - harmless or not?

Hi Fleks,

What does that tell you?  Don't complete any surveys.

Hope this helps.

Julie

Re: PUP's from online studies - harmless or not?

well it pays and they are not annoying at all to me - i always do surveys if im bored/close to going offline anyhow so i just do the survey,restart my pc via your adwcleaner and boom,i dont even really see that they are there (i only use this site rarely so i dont mind)

Re: PUP's from online studies - harmless or not?

small update to this matter (in case anyone else has this annoyance): these PUP's are just cookies used by the site so if you check the option to delete these after every session then you will not have any PUP's - started noticing this after swapping over to edge and i use the delete everything after each session anyhow so happy coincidence 

 

Re: PUP's from online studies - harmless or not?

Hi Fleks,

I'm curious, do you have Adwcleaner? and do you run the program ?  PUP's are not cookies.  They are connected to other software/surveys that the user(s) downloads.

Julie

Re: PUP's from online studies - harmless or not?

doublechecked too it goes likes this:

survey -> close browser -> run adwcleaner -> pups found -> dont repair -> open browser again AND delete cookies -> close browser -> run adw cleaner again -> no pups found - so 100% cookie related - probably just gathering personal data via those i would guess and making profit over those eventho they pay you for survey